Adult or YA Sci-Fi. Elite hackers do battle in cyberspace, they do computer security jobs. Protagonist is female hacker in Silicon Valley? Read in early 2000s. Spoilers.

[Hareesh]

I read this book in the early 2000s, maybe 2000-2005? There might have been some use of the term cyberspace, which was very popular at the time. The main characters were elite hackers who did computer security jobs (illegal intrusion and data stealing, probably, or maybe defence against other hackers). They sometimes competed against each other, and sometimes collaborated. I think the protagonist was a female hacker who was based in Silicon Valley? There seemed to be references to hackers or at least computers in various major global cities.

Spoilers ahead...



The plot takes a huge left turn: the competition or enmity between the hackers started to turn into a sense of common purpose as they discover strange happenings that affect them all. It turns out that (view spoiler)[ they are all living in a computer simulation, like in The Matrix. But unlike in the Matrix, they discover that all life on Earth is dead, and there is nothing left on the surface of the planet except solar panels powering this underground computer simulation. The novel ends on a note of hope when the hackers figure out how to send a robot to the surface, and the video feed shows that there is primitive life (maybe mold or moss). (hide spoiler)]

I'd be happy for any help!

Thanks,
Hareesh.

[Kris]

Hareesh, I copied a few details to the topic header. Feel free to edit it.

[Hareesh]

Thanks for helping with the summary!

[Kris]

A guess - True Names (2003) by Vernor Vinge?

Wikipedia's plot summary - with Spoilers:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/True_Names

Google search of Goodreads:
site:goodreads.com "science fiction" hackers battle "security" "simulation"

[Hareesh]

There are some strong similarities, but it's not the book that I read. Thanks for the recommendation, though -- I will have to start reading books by Vernor Vinge!